Hell In A Cell: The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again
In 2009, Hell in a Cell went from an "iconic and brutal" event to a cheap gimmick when it was made an annual pay-per-view event. In 2024, Triple H's leadership and the bloody feud between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre have restored Hell in a Cell to its former glory.
Hell In A Cell is Officially Back! Here's Everything You Need to Know.
After two decades, WWE Bad Blood and its infamous Hell in a Cell are OFFICIALLY BACK!!!
There were only three Bad Blood events before it was replaced in 2004, but these “iconic and brutal” matches made quite an impact on fans. In early 2024, PWInsider revealed that WWE planned to bring the event back to celebrate the 27th anniversary of the first Hell in a Cell match. The September 9th episode of RAW revealed that there would be a Bad Blood event featuring a Hell in a Cell match between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre. Given how personal their feud is, it is no surprise that fans have been on the edge of their seats ever since.
The thing that makes Bad Blood so iconic is its main event: Hell in a Cell. As Wrestling Junkie puts it, “just saying the name of the match makes it sound like something bad is about to go down.” What exactly is Hell in a Cell? What is its connection to Bad Blood? What does its return mean for the future of WWE?
Hell in a Cell is a gimmick match in which the ring is enclosed in a 20-foot-high, five-ton cage made of steel mesh chain-link fence. Up to six competitors can participate in a Hell in the Cell match, and weapons are permitted. Once the competitors (and their weapons of choice) enter the cage, the door is locked behind them with chains and a padlock. There are no disqualifications, so the match can only be won “by pinfall or submission inside the ring.” As expected, the enclosed space combined with the fact that there are no rules “often leads to brutal, hard-hitting matches.”
Bad Blood and Hell in a Cell made their debut together. Badd Blood: In Your House aired on pay-per-view on October 5, 1997. It featured a never-before-seen Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. This match was a culmination of their months-long rivalry. Taking advantage of the fact that Michaels could not escape, the Undertaker “thr[ew] him around the steel structure with reckless abandon.” Michaels only won because Kane “emerged from the darkness” to defeat the Undertaker at the last minute. This match “set the tone for the brutality and spectacle associated with the stipulation.”
The most famous Hell in a Cell match also involved the Undertaker. As Bleacher Report puts it, the 1998 King of the Ring match between The Undertaker and Mankind “transitioned from extreme to extremely uncomfortable to watch.” The Undertaker threw Mankind off the top of the cage, sending him crashing through the announcer's table below. When Mankind climbed back to the top of the cage, the Undertaker “chokeslammed him through the ceiling” of the cage, sending him crashing into the ring mat. By the end of the match, a tooth was stuck in Mankind’s beard!
In 2009, WWE introduced an annual Hell in the Cell pay-per-view event. This event featured several Hell in a Cell matches. Triple H discontinued this event in 2022.
Hell in a Cell was originally meant to be a last resort. It was meant to be utilized when the feud between two wrestlers had grown so intense and had been going on for so long that they had no choice but to settle the score inside of the Cell. Over time, Hell in a Cell devolved into just another “gimmick event,” like Elimination Chamber, Money in the Bank, and Extreme Rules. These events are “gimmicks” because the matches are scheduled as an event instead of being placed into a storyline.
Since they became an annual pay-per-view event, Hell in a Cell matches became less popular among wrestling fans. Fans felt like many of these matches didn’t actually belong in Hell in a Cell and were only taking place there “because the calendar says so.” Wrestlevotes even told GiveMeSport that fans consider Hell in a Cell to be “completely dead.”
During the WWE Survivor Series Post-Show Press Conference in 2022, Triple H acknowledged fans' dissatisfaction with Hell in a Cell and other gimmick events. He said, "'I hear this speculation among fans about Hell in a Cell, Money in the Bank, Elimination Chamber, maybe those things should go away.'" He went on to say "'I think we have to re-evaluate all of that... really looking at the overall calendar and saying, ‘what is the best place to put this? What is the best way to entertain our fans? What makes the most sense, one after the other.’"
Triple H didn't eliminate Hell in a Cell entirely. Instead, he decided to restore Hell in a Cell to its original purpose and restore these exhilarating matches for "biggest blood feuds."
There is no bigger or bloodier feud in modern wrestling than the feud between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre. This feud goes far beyond titles and storylines- it's personal. It started when Drew McIntyre tore CM Punk's tricep during the Royal Rumble. CM Punk was forced to spend several months out of the ring as he recovered from this injury. When Punk revealed his injury on RAW, McIntyre's brutal response was “'I prayed for this and it happened.'" He proceeded to attack Punk, going out of his way to "[target] his injured arm."
Both Punk and McIntyre have personal scores to settle with one another. Punk sabotaged McIntyre's win at Wrestlemania, Clash of the Castle, and two Money in the Bank events. McIntyre "put a damper on [Punk's] legendary comeback" by injuring him and repeatedly attacking him "to continue delaying his recovery process." McIntyre threatened to steal Punk's wife on the Pat McAfee Show. When Punk cheated McIntyre out of the title during Clash of the Castle, McIntyre beat up Punk and took the bracelet off his wrist. This bracelet featured the name of Punk's wife and dog.
This feud is intense and personal. It has lasted for months, with McIntyre and Punk growing increasingly furious with one another. There is only one way to settle this once and for all: a face-off in an enclosed space, no rules and no disqualifications, no escape until the score is settled.
The match between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre is exactly what Hell in a Cell should be: a last resort used to settle a score that could otherwise never be settled.
By choosing this specific match to bring back Hell in a Cell (and Bad Blood), Triple H has brought WWE back to its roots. He recognizes that compelling storylines and true entertainment are more important than meeting a quota or a list of dates on a calendar.
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